5 Fun Activities to Help Defeat Summer Boredom

The dog days of summer have arrived, and it’s easy to get tired of the same old outdoor activities! After a few cookouts, all the food starts tasting the same. Promises made with friends in the spring to get together are pushed out to the fall. The conversation seems repetitive, relating to how this summer is likely to be the hottest on record or how the mosquitoes are out of control. You could take in the latest movie, but with the rising cost of movie tickets and concessions, and knowing that the flick will hit Redbox or Netflix in the next few months, what would be the point?

So yeah – we’re as tired as you with the usual stuff. That’s why we’ve devised 5 fun activities to help you defeat the summer doldrums.

1) Have a Slumber Party

Invite your friends to spend the night at your house: middle school style. Order pizza, play “Truth or Dare,” gossip about celebrities, have a quote-along with favorite old movies, and make sure to break away from adulthood.

2) Stay in Touch with friends

Maintaining social relationships with friends and family is crucial to our well-being. Studies show that people with social support tend to be less depressed, live longer, and even less vulnerable to certain diseases than those with fewer friends. You don’t need to have a formal get-together to benefit from hanging out with your friends – it can be as simple as a glass of wine with your neighbor, a phone call to your best friend from college, or spend quality time with your parents. So even though you might not have the energy of your youth, make the effort to contact the people that are important to you. It will boost the mood of you AND your friends.

Camping doesn’t always have to be a huge production. It can be just as fun to have an impromptu camping trip in your backyard! Set up a tent, make some S’mores, and tell scary stories. After all, it only takes a little imagination to transform any place into a forest, deep sea dive, or any enchanted locale.

4) Relive your childhood days

As a kid, staying up past bedtime and playing outside with my neighbors made for a perfect summer day. Fight the lure of the air conditioning, TV, and computers by reliving your childhood with your own kids or friends. Spend an evening catching fireflies or playing games such as hide-and-seek or flashlight tag.

5) Exercise

Beat the boredom by staying fit. My Dad, a doctor, always stressed to us the many benefits of exercise, including relieving stress, burning calories, and improving sleep. So grab a friend to play some tennis, organize a game of dodgeball, or work on improving your mile time. Not only is exercise a mood lifter, it’s also a great way to spend time outside.

What ideas do you have for fun activities that will defeat the summer doldrums? Share them in the comments!